Church takes up environment campaign

SHILLONG: Noting the degradation of environment in Meghalaya, the Church has come up with a noble initiative to spread awareness against depletion of the natural resources and environment.

The Fanwar Faith Inc (FFI) and the Khasi-Jaintia Conference of Seventh Day Adventists have sponsored a 120 km 'bike-a-thon' on cycles in Meghalaya from February 24 as part of the campaign for better environment and better health.

"As caring citizens of this planet, we should be aware of the impact that our environment has on our health and commit ourselves to preservation of our environment," 44-year- old Shann Fanwar, president of FFI, told reporters here.

He said the Church is not only concerned about spiritual health but also physical health. "Physical health is the concern of God and the Bible. As a society we must ensure that we maintain and adopt practices that are friendly to our health and environment," US-based Fanwar, who seldom rides his car and prefers the cycle or walking, said.

The organizers have chosen Cherrapunjee as the starting point of the bike-a-thon, as they felt depletion of the environment has had an impact on the world's rainiest place.

"If we continue at this rate of pollution emission, deforestation and natural resource depletion, we will soon feel the effect on the health of this generation and the generations to come," Fanwar said.